A popular marketing proverb states that “content is king,” but what does it really mean in 2020? We all know that content marketing still dominates the digital landscape, but times have changed and you cannot expect to impress target audiences using obsolete content creation techniques.
Clever marketers know they need to make decisions based on data-driven insights. They understand that it’s necessary to check out the latest industry reports and learn how to approach content campaigns in the months and years to come. We selected the seven most impressive content marketing stats, so keep reading to learn how to streamline your 2020 strategy.
1. Content Marketing Is Cheaper And More Productive
Do you know that content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and generates three times as many leads? It’s a clear proof of content’s superiority, but it should also remind you of one simple fact – you have to keep investing in content creation this year and beyond.
Users spend at least a couple of hours every day consuming more or less relevant posts, so it’s up to you to strengthen your content creation efforts and win over the audience with quality materials. What does it mean in practice? Here’s what you can do:
- Publish at least one top-level blog post on your website weekly
- Create and send an email newsletter weekly or biweekly
- Post at least once a day on your social media accounts
- Interact with your social fans on a daily basis
Apart from that, it is essential to reconsider your content formats. There’s the entire spectrum of more or less relevant content types to think about and add to your strategy, so feel free to mix it up and make use of alternative formats such as infographics, memes, slideshows, GIFs, animations, quotes, and similar.
A lot of content is available online and the only way to stand out is to be consistent. If you can stick to the schedule and maintain the same level of quality long-term, rest assured your content campaigns will have an impressive ROI.
2. Video Content Is Getting Increasingly Popular
A recent survey reveals that YouTube is the top social media website among today’s teens, outperforming Instagram, Facebook, and all the other networks. It tells you that video content is getting increasingly popular among young audience groups and new generations of buyers.
How can you respond to this trend?
First of all, you’ll need a solid YouTube account for your business. It’s important to optimize the account properly by uploading a professional profile image, writing a concise description, and creating video playlists.
Although it sounds counterintuitive, YouTube is also based on keywords and you’ll need to add the most relevant search terms and phrases to your account and video descriptions as well as headlines and meta tags.
Once you’re done with that, you should begin publishing fresh videos regularly. Although business videos are supposed to be authoritative, don’t forget that younger audiences would appreciate a slight dose of humor and entertainment.
3. Written Content Is Still Essential
According to research, nearly 60% of marketers say original written content is the most important type of content, outdoing visuals and videos. This basically means that most users still enjoy reading informative and educational posts more than any other sort of online activity.
But keep in mind that writing a high-quality blog post is not easy.
It all starts with keyword selection, so you’ll have to utilize keyword planning tools to identify the most valuable search terms and phrases. For example, a student-oriented agency will probably create posts based on keywords like paper writing services review or essay service.
This is where you can try and concentrate on low-competition keywords with enough searchers to give you a substantial amount of traffic. It is particularly important for small and medium-sized businesses because they usually cannot compete with niche leaders when it comes to highly competitive keywords.
Another important tip is to make a clear structure. Each post must have a catchy introduction, a data-rich body section, and a meaningful conclusion. You should write smaller paragraphs, create lists, emphasize key conclusions, and use enough whitespaces to divide different parts of the article.
The last thing to do before publishing is to proofread the text. A tiny blunder could jeopardize your authority, so do your best to check each article manually or use a digital tool such as Grammarly, Dissertation Help, or Essay Help UK.
4. Prepare Content For Voice Searches
Google claims that 20% of inquiries on the largest search engine are now voice-powered. It’s a growing trend that doesn’t look like stopping anytime soon, so you better prepare your posts for voice searches.
To do that, you need to understand the peculiarities of voice-based searches. Unlike textual inquiries, voice searches are more natural and conversational, so you can expect users to say a full sentence and probably ask their personal assistants to give them some sort of an answer. This essentially means that voice-powered searches begin with questions like what, who, where, when, why, or how.
As a content creator, you can drastically improve search engine ranking simply by adjusting your posts so as to answer the six questions we just mentioned. The point is to provide users with straightforward answers – Google will recognize it and display your content before anyone else’s.
Besides that, thorough FAQ pages proved to work well for voice-oriented searchers. This is possible because a typical FAQ page contains informative and educational content that clearly answers all of the questions we mentioned above.
5. Cross-Device Functionality Is A Must
More than 40% of users abandon content if they have trouble interacting with it on their device. It includes content or images that do not load properly as well as the content that doesn’t display well on the current device.
Besides that, almost half of consumers simply abandon content online if it takes too long to load. You don’t have to be a digital marketing guru to spot the problem here – modern consumers demand cross-device functionality.
As they frequently switch between laptops, tablets, and smartphones, you will have to indulge them by publishing responsive content that suits each device just as effortlessly. This is the only way to stay competitive in the age of multi-device usage.
Mobile users are becoming increasingly dominant in this field since the number of smartphone owners skyrocketed to over 3.5 billion in 2020. This basically means that 50% of the global population is likely to use a mobile device to search for your (or anyone else’s) business.
If you want to keep pace with this trend, we recommend conducting a mobile-friendliness test via Google Search Console or any other reliable platform.
6. Content Repurposing Helps Brands Long-Term
A study shows that almost 60% of marketers reuse posts two to five times in order to generate “snackable” content based on assets, whereas 45% of companies with marketing automation regularly repurpose content for efficiency.
Although content repurposing may look like a lack of effort and creativity, it is actually a quintessential tool for modern marketers. The reason is simple – no one can keep producing fresh and relevant content day after day without running out of ideas along the way.
The only real question is how to reuse the content in a way that seems natural and attractive. Most marketers stick to the proven scheme:
- Pinpoint evergreen posts that have always inspired the target audience
- Modify a headline, add fresh data, change images, or upgrade a few sections
- Turn interviews into blog posts, videos into how-to guides, reports into infographics, etc.
The number of options here is almost endless because you can play with all sorts of content and convert them into equally interesting alternatives. Another idea that proved to be very productive is to pinpoint competitors’ high-ranking posts and craft a similar post that is even better and offers even more valuable information.
7. Outsourcing Is Omnipresent
According to the report, 84% of B2B marketers are outsourcing content creation. The situation is not substantially different in B2C marketing since way too many companies cannot handle the growing content creation demand. In such circumstances, outsourcing becomes the only sustainable solution.
What is great about outsourcing is that you can quickly find tons of reliable partners online. If you have a good budget at your disposal, you can always hire a professional content marketing agency.
On the other hand, many businesses choose to cooperate with freelance marketers who charge less but work just as efficiently. Platforms like Upwork attract some of the world’s best freelancers, so clients can easily identify the most talented professionals based on previous achievements, testimonials, and project types.
The best thing about freelancing platforms is that they grant you full visibility, so you can quickly identify a candidate who perfectly matches your needs for a given project, says Mat Torrence, the assignment writing manager from Bestcustomessay.org, who from time to time needs urgent help with his work. That way, almost anyone can hire a quality partner within days or even hours.
The Bottom Line
Content marketing is a never-ending game that you have to play carefully and constantly keep an eye on the latest news, tools, and techniques. We showed you the seven most important content marketing stats here, but now it’s your turn to make a move and adjust your 2020 strategy based on these insights.
